Afghanistan’s Transboundary Rivers and Regional Security · stressed water resources. Almost all...

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WSN 16 (2015) 40-52 EISSN 2392-219

Afghanistan’s Transboundary Rivers and Regional Security

Dursun Yıldız

Hydropolitics Academy Association, Güfte Sokak No: 8/9 TR 06680 Kavaklıdere Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey

E-mail address: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Aside from the issues peace and stability, one of Afghanistan’s most vital needs is safe and

reliable supplies of water. But Afghanistan faces certain economic, political, institutional problems to

develop water resources potential. These problems will increase as the years go by. Afghanistan is one

of the world’s poorest countries, with an economy largely based on subsistence agriculture. Afghan

farmers depend on reliable, year-round sources of surface water and groundwater. Seasonal flows of

streams and rivers fed by melting snowpack high in Afghanistan’s mountains recharge alluvial

aquifers located in populated valleys and provide city dwellers with drinking water. The current

population of Afghanistan is about 31 million and it is projected to increase by nearly 80 percent by

the year 2050 to approximately 56 million. This will raise demand on the country’s already economic

stressed water resources. Almost all of the river basins are transboundary in the country. The Country

due to the political unrest has not participated in many of the agreements regulating water resources in

Central Asia. its current “non-player” and "outsider" status of the Central Asian Hydropolitics has to

be changed when starting water resources development. This could create an international dispute in

future regional water sharing discussions. In addition, recent research suggests that global climate

change could alter precipitation patterns in Afghanistan. In particular, both the amount and the timing

of snowfall received at higher elevations could change, impacting the major source of water for many

areas in Afghanistan. Development of Afghanistan’s most transboundary water resources is a vital

need for its own national interest, but it is also directly related with a transboundary water

management dispute issue in the region. In other words, Afghanistan should find the best way to

develop its transboundary water resources for national development as well as peace and stability of

mailto:[email protected]

World Scientific News 16 (2015) 40-52

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the region. But this development won't be so easy if current amount of water use of riparian states

will be same when Afghanistan plans to release smaller amount of water.

Keywords: Afghanistan’s Transboundary Rivers; Regional Water Security; Hydro Politics of

Afghanistan; Central Asia’s Water; Central Asian Hydropolitics

1. INTRODUCTION

Photo 1. A tale of three Afghanistans: Deserts, mountain streams and growing cities. Credit: top and

middle: Thomas J. Mack, USGS; bottom: ©iStockphoto.com/MieAhmt. [8].


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Because of Afghanistan’s innate land locked setting virtually all of

Afghanistan’s major rivers drain off into riparian neighboring states. Trans-

boundary concerns are intensifying along all of Afghanistan borders….1

Afghanistan has many water resources and its geography provides significant

opportunities for their exploitation.2 Afghanistan possesses many rivers, river basins, lakes

and desert areas. The four major river systems are the Amu Darya, the Oxus of antiquity,

(boundary with Central Asia, 1,100 kilometers in Afghanistan); the Helmand (1,300

kilometers); the Harirud (650 kilometers in Afghanistan); and the Kabul (460 kilometers).

Only the Kabul River, joining the Indus system in Pakistan, leads to the sea. Many rivers and

streams simply empty into arid portions of the country, spending themselves through

evaporation without replenishing the four major systems; others flow only seasonally.3

Afghanistan is an unlucky country that lacks the ability to develop it’s water resources.

The existing water infrastructure has been destroyed during thirty years of war. This deficit in

water management capacity exacts a heavy toll, exacerbating unemployment, food insecurity,

water disputes, and the production of crops that can compete with illicit drugs. Without the

means to store and divert water, existing infrastructure is vulnerable to devastating seasonal

floods and droughts. Afghanistan also needs electricity, which only reaches 6 percent of its

rural communities and 15 percent of its urban population.4

Afghanistan is highly susceptible to drought. When the country suffered a drought from

1999 to 2005, whole villages with limited water resources were forced to abandon their land

and flee to larger cities and towns.

Improving the national and transboundary management of water resources of

Afghanistan is a necessity to improve the lives of millions of people. Enhanced regional

cooperation to avoid tension over the use and management of shared water resources will be

crucial to the success of the Afghan government’s and the international community’s efforts

to provide a secure and stable future for the country and its neighbors.

2. HYDROLOGY OF THE RIVER BASINS

Afghanistan divides hydrographically into four major river basins, the Amu Darya,

Harirud-Murghab, Helmand and the Kabul River Basin, all of which cross international

boundaries5

Additionally, Afghanistan’s water resources are unequally distributed. The Amu Darya

Basin, including the Harirud and Murghab Basin and non-drainage areas, covers about 37

percent of Afghanistan’s territory but contains about 60% of the water flow. The Helmand

Basin covers about 49% of the territory and holds only 11 percent of water flow. The Kabul-

1 Shojaudin, Ziaie, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Ministry of energy and water, “Water sector strategy for

Afghanistan, National Development strategy” March 15 2007, p-9 2 King, Matthwe, Sturtewagen, Benjamin, “Making the most of Afghanistan River Basins, opportunities for

Regional cooperation”. February 2010, p-1. 3 http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/33.htm

4 http://www.stimson.org/spotlight/transboundary-water-sharing-iran-and-afghanistan/

5 Laura Schroeder, Therese Ure “River Basin Organization and Governance in Afghanistan” The XV

th World

Water Congress of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) Edinburgh, Scotland, May 25-29,

2015.


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Eastern River Basin, with area coverage of about 12 percent holds around 26 percent of the

water flow.6

Figure 1. Afghanistan map and transboundary rivers.

The Amu Darya is one of the longest rivers in Central Asia. It flows into the Aral Sea

and forms part of Afghanistan’s borders with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Water

resources from the Amu Darya are shared between Afghanistan and all of the Central Asian

states through which it runs,

The Harirud-Murghab represents about 12% of Afghanistan's water resources. It is

centered in Herat, an intensely irrigated region of Afghanistan. The river flows through Iran,

ending in Turkmenistan, and acts as a border between Afghanistan and Iran and further

between Iran and Turkmenistan.

.

6 King, Matthwe, Sturtewagen, Benjamin, “Making the most of Afghanistan River Basins, opportunities for

Regional cooperation”. February 2010, p-1


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Figure 2. Locations of Afghanistan’s major drainage basins, reinstalled streamgage stations and the

Kajaki Reservoir, a major source for hydropower and irrigation in the Helmand River Basin. Credit:

Thomas J. Mack, USGS. [8].

The Helmand river basin contains the longest Afghan river which forms the Afghan-

Iranian border for 55 kilometers. Water from the Helmand basin is used primarily for

irrigation.

The Kabul River flows through Afghanistan and Pakistan and represents

approximately 26% of the available water resources in Afghanistan. There is presently no

agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan concerning the distribution of the water

resources available in the Kabul River.5

3. WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT DIFFICULTIES

Drinking water supply and water for irrigation is the priority for the Afghanistan. But as

the country develops further, additional water supplies will be required for anticipated mining

and mineral processing activities, as well as for associated businesses and communities that

will be vitally important to Afghanistan’s future stability. But there are some difficulties as

indicated below;

Following decades of invasion and civil war, Afghanistan lacked the technical capacity,

the communications infrastructure, and the modern equipment necessary for effective

hydrogeologic investigations of its water resources.


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The difficulty of obtaining safe and reliable supplies of water in Afghanistan is

heightened by the fact that water-resources data collection was suspended around 1980 due to

civil strife and the Soviet invasion. Subsequently, much of the institutional knowledge

relating to water resources was lost, most of the country’s water monitoring equipment was

destroyed, and the abilities of Afghan water scientists stagnated [8].

3. 1. Recent Developments

Recent developments have begun re-establishing civil hydrologic expertise, and have

led to the creation of local and national groundwater monitoring networks and a national

climatic network as well as functioning streamflow and reservoir water level gaging network.

Although further improvements are needed, these advances should assist Afghanistan’s

planners and managers to assess and monitor current and future water resources.

In 2004, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers arrived at the Afghanistan Geological

Survey (AGS) headquarters in Kabul to begin a decade-plus long collaboration with AGS

scientists. Since 2004, USGS efforts have focused principally on basic skill-building. For

example, USGS scientists have provided training to Afghan scientists and technicians in using

modern computerized techniques required for hydrologic monitoring and for maintaining

large databases [8].

One of the first projects USGS and AGS engineers undertook was to investigate water

resources in the Kabul Basin. By 2010, AGS engineers applying the lessons learned in Kabul

had established similar groundwater monitoring networks in the major population centers

Meanwhile, collaborative work with the Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan

Refugees, an international NGO, led to the development of a national network of more than

150 wells to monitor groundwater levels. Administered by Afghan engineers, this first

national groundwater network will be vital to detecting and assessing regional trends in future

groundwater levels and quality.

By the late 1970s, Afghanistan had a functioning stream flow and reservoir water level

gaging network that consisted of 169 stream gages distributed across the country. This

network operated until 1980 when most stream gages were destroyed or fell into disrepair.

From 1980 to the early 2000s, Afghanistan’s original streamflow records were misplaced or

destroyed and the data were lost.

From 2006 to 2010, USGS and MEW researchers worked to recover daily streamflow

data from whatever historical documents hadn’t been destroyed and could be located.

Nationwide, approximately 127 historical stream gages were re-established and

supplied with modern equipment from 2008 to 2011 as part of a USGS and World Bank

program. In March of 2014, the United States Agency for International Development

("USAID") contracted with Laura A. Schroeder to conduct a three-week consultation mission

in an active war zone in Kabul, Afghanistan. The goal of this mission was to provide

international water law expertise in developing a decentralized and sustainable water use

system by analyzing the current methods of the Country's governance within its various river

basins7.

7 Laura Schroeder,Therese Ure River Basin Organization and Governance in Afghanistan The XVth World

Water Congress of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) Edinburgh, Scotland, May 25-29,

2015.


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The mission focused on teaching Public Administration and Governance Training for

the basin and local agencies, as well as members of the Technical Secretariat Council on

Water. Through this training and teaching, the goal was to provide solid practical instruction

to Afghanistan senior and technical staff to facilitate understanding of the deficiencies and

challenges within the water sector, and to assist in implementing Afghan water code.

3. 2. Climate: The Context for Water Resources

Effect of climate change is a critical unknown factor in Afghanistan’s water resources

development. “May Kabul be without gold, but not without snow,” implores an Afghan

proverb. Afghanistan relies on winter snowfall in the mountains to replenish the snowfields

and glaciers that supply water to its perennial and ephemeral rivers and streams. Reductions

of the mountain snowpack and glaciers due to climate change could have a profound effect on

Afghanistan’s water resources [8].

In 2010, the USGS and AGS assessment of Kabul Basin’s water resources found that

about half of the shallow groundwater supply wells could become dry or unusable due to

declining stream flows and recharge under projected climate change by 2050.

4. WATER MANAGEMENT AND TRANSBOUNDARY AGREEMENTS

Afghanistan is the second-largest contributor of water resources to the Amu Darya after

Tajikistan, so there is an obvious need for cooperation between Afghanistan and the Central

Asian states. Yet Central Asian states have had limited engagement with Afghanistan, in part

because of differences among Central Asian states themselves.(Disagreements between

Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are the reason why a memorandum of understanding between

Afghanistan and Tajikistan on trans-boundary water use has been pending for years).

No bilateral or multilateral treaties have been signed on the Harirud and Murghab8.

Historically, cooperation and trust between Iran and Afghanistan on the issue of

water has been limited. With the exception of an unbinding 1973 water accord that

defined an acceptable rate of discharge from the Helmand, there are no formal water-

sharing agreements. Trust was further eroded when the accord was breached by

Afghanistan during a drought from 1998 and 2002. The development of more water

infrastructure in Afghanistan, unbounded by agreements, will increase Iran's

vulnerability9.

4. 1. Hydropolitics of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is the only non-player country in the region although it’s all rivers are

transboundary. Afghanistan’s reluctance in hydropolitics is partly due to having a weak

bargaining position compared to its neighbors.

It is clear that after three decades of conflict, Afghanistan has a severe lack of technical

knowledge, institutional capacity relative to its neighbors and very poor hydro-meteorological

data.

8 King, Matthwe, Sturtewagen, Benjamin, “Making the most of Afghanistan River Basins, opportunities for

Regional cooperation”. February 2010, New York-USA 9 http://www.stimson.org/spotlight/transboundary-water-sharing-iran-and-afghanistan/


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Figure 3. Helmand River Basin.

Figure 4. Marghab-Hari Rud, Kabul, Amu Darya River Basins.


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At the same time, it is also important to recognize that Afghanistan’s neighbors have not

undertaken any serious efforts to incorporate Afghanistan either. Existing frameworks for

regional cooperation on some of the shared water resources continue to exclude

Afghanistan10

. But when Afghanistan is able to start develop water resources; the regional

stability balance will be threatened. Because no bilateral legal frameworks on shared water

resources exist except for the 1973 bilateral treaty between Afghanistan and Iran on the

Helmand River,

4. 2. The Amu Darya Basin Agreements

Development of agriculture (in all riparian states) and hydroelectric power (in Tajikistan

and Afghanistan particularly) depend heavily on the water resources of the Amu Darya. It is

also crucial water to the livelihoods of 44 million people in the Aral Sea Basin.

Since 1873, Afghanistan and its northern neighbors - Russia, the Soviet Union, and the

Central Asian states - have concluded agreements relating to the Amu Darya. But no water

resource sharing schemes were ever stipulated.

The most significant agreements:

The Frontier Agreement between Afghanistan and Russia (1873); �

The Frontier Agreement between Afghanistan and the Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics (1946); and �

The treaty between the government of the U.S.S.R. and the Royal Government of

Afghanistan concerning the regime of the Soviet-Afghan state frontier (1958).

In 1977, Afghanistan sent a delegation to Tashkent and Uzbekistan to negotiate a water

sharing agreement. The Soviet Union could only offer 6,000 cubic meters a year, which was

3,000 cubic meters short of the Afghan demand. An agreement failed to materialize11

4. 3. The Harirud-Murghab River Basin Agreements

The Harirud-Murghab River Basin represents about 12 percent of Afghanistan’s water

resources and is centered on the intensely irrigated area of Herat. It rises in the central

Hazarajat and flows west through north-east Iran before exhausting itself in Turkmenistan. No

bilateral or multilateral treaties have been signed on the Harirud and Murghab. A number of

regional frameworks established Amu Darya Basin do not cover the Harirud-Murghab River

Basin directly. Iran has indicated readiness to cooperate bilaterally and trilaterally with

Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. However, bilateral and/or trilateral frameworks of

cooperation are yet to be developed. Furthermore, Iran and Turkmenistan did not consult

Afghanistan when jointly building the Doosti Dam on the Harirud, which has increased

concerns in Kabul12

. In 2005, Iran and Turkmenistan constructed the Doosti Dam, with each

country agreeing to equal rights to the river; however neither country consulted Afghanistan

prior to constructing the dam. The current $200 million dam project in the works to divert

10

King, Matthwe, Sturtewagen Benjamin “Making the Most of Afghanistan’s River Basins Opportunities for

Regional Cooperation” Report of The EastWest Institute New York –USA 11

David W Rycroft and Kai Wegerich, “The three blind spots of Afghanistan: Water fow, irrigation

development and the impact of climate change” (2009), p 3. 12

King, Matthwe, Sturtewagen Benjamin “Making the Most of Afghanistan’s River Basins Opportunities for

Regional Cooperation” Report of The EastWest Institute New York –USA


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water from Iran to Afghanistan will severely restrict water flow to Iran13

. Because

Afghanistan was not consulted prior to the construction of the Doosti Dam, Afghan officials

state they have no plans to negotiate water rights with Iran prior to building the new dam.

This project may potentially cause a great set back in the great strides towards peace which

has taken place between these two countries

4. 4. The Helmand River Basin Agreements

The Helmand River is a special river in terms of Afghanistan’s Hydropolitics. It is the

longest of Afghanistan’s rivers, shared between Afghanistan and Iran and the only river basin

on which Afghanistan has entered into a formal agreement with a neighbor. The Helmand

River is at approximately 1,300 kilometers (800 miles). It rises in the Hindu Kush mountain

crossing southwest, it forms the Afghan-Iranian border for 55 kilometers. The water resources

of the Helmand River Basin are used extensively for irrigation. It’s water is crucial for

Afghan and Iranian farmers in Sistan and Baluchistan alike. Therefore, implementation and

expansion of various water infrastructure projects is raising the tension in the basin.

On September 7, 1950, the Afghan and Iranian governments signed an agreement

establishing the Helmand River Delta Commission to elaborate technical methods to share the

Helmand River’s water between Iran and Afghanistan. The commission was to provide an

engineering basis for mutual accord regarding the apportionment of the waters of the

Helmand. Iran and Afghanistan did not agree with the commission’s 1951 report. However,

the bilateral treaty on the allocation of the Helmand River’s water resources. The agreement

allocates 26 cubic meters per second to downstream Iran. However, the treaty was never fully

implemented and disputes arose over the terms of the allocation. Due to the 1973 Afghan

coup, the 1978-1979 revolution in Iran, the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the rise

and fall of the Taliban, the treaty was never fully implemented and disputes over the terms of

agreement remained14

. Improved Kabul-Tehran relations following the ouster of the Taliban

have not yet yielded a solution. However the Afghan and Iranian Helmand River

commissioners currently meet on a quarterly basis to promote bilateral cooperation and the

formation of subcommittees on dredging and food control in the Helmand.

Additionally, Iran and Afghanistan have made constructive efforts Hamun Lake. They

have worked in close cooperation since 2003 with the United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme, and the Global

Environment Facility (GEF) through a process of trilateral sessions between Afghanistan,

Iran, and UNEP. As a downstream user of the water resources of the Helmand River, Iran has

an obvious interest in cooperating with Afghanistan. Current Iranian technical assistance to

the construction of a research institute in the Afghan Ministry of Energy and Water can serve

as an example for the enhancement of regional data and information sharing.15

4. 5. The Kabul-Eastern Basin Agreements

The Kabul River flows in eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. It is

approximately 700 kilometers long, of which 560 kilometers flow through Afghanistan and

pass into Pakistan. It joins the Indus River

13

Ibid. 14

İbid 15

Ziaie, “Water Sector Strategy; MEW Water Sector Strategy (2008), p 28


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The water resources of the Kabul River are essentially shared between Afghanistan and

Pakistan. Despite repeated attempts on both sides to reach an agreement on the Kabul River,

such an agreement has not materialized. The technical committee established in 2003

maintained that its efforts failed because it did not receive sufficient river flow data from

Afghan authorities. No institutionalized framework of cooperation on the Kabul River Basin

currently exists. At the sidelines of the March 2009 meeting of the Economic Cooperation

Organization, and Tajik leaders agreed to speed up implementation of projects on the water-

energy nexus. Joint commitments of a similar nature were not made between Afghanistan and

Pakistan.

5. SECURITY OF THE REGION AND WATER

Clearly, security and development became the key elements of contemporary

international relations, with water being an essential basis for security and driving force

behind development. The Central Asian states established a series of regional institutions and

agreements with the expressed intention of allocating the Aral Sea Basin’s waters and

protecting the Aral Sea. They began with the 1992 Alamaty Agreement. In the following

years a number of institutions were established. But Afghanistan has not been a member of

any of the water management related regional organisations however. On the other hand there

is no evidence that the Central Asian states or the water bodies established have ever

considered including Afghanistan. There is no textual exclusion to the fact that Afghanistan

is an Aral Sea Basin state or contributor to the Amu Darya’s waters.

Similarly in a report recording IFAS’s first ten years, Afghanistan was only mentioned

as a potential problem. The report stated that Afghanistan’s future water demands are a “big

uncertainty” for the other riparians [1].

A subsequent ICWC-IFAS roundtable noted that there was a need for “concerted

actions to develop the water management system in the region, … due to the development of

new irrigable lands in Afghanistan” (ICWC, 2005).

In neither instance did IFAS or member states suggest that Afghanistan’s membership

was a way of addressing these “uncertainties.” No bilateral agreements have been reached

between Afghanistan and the Central Asian riparians either. In fact the only transboundary

water agreement that the Karzai government has with any of its neighbours is with Iran over

the Helmand (Hirmand) river (Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, 2007).

The only Central Asian riparian that seems interested in serious dialogue with Afghanistan is

Tajikistan [5]. Therefore regional security is very much depend on transboundary water use

and management of the Afghanistan.In other words Afghanistan’s water development project

and Hydropolicy will play very important role on the regional security

6. CURRENT CONDITIONS AND FUTURE OF THE REGION

Considering the last section before this part, it is not difficult to see that there are no

regional mechanisms for cooperation on water in Southwest Asia that involve Afghanistan.

With the exception of the 1973 bilateral treaty between Afghanistan and Iran on the Helmand

River, no bilateral legal frame works on shared water resources exist, let alone regional


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frameworks. The Iran-Afghanistan dialogue on the Helmand River is the most developed.

Additionally, recent agreements in the framework of ECO, RECCA, and other forums could

start to serve as a fertile ground for bilateral and regional water diplomacy.

Regional cooperation requires political will, which, to date, has not been forthcoming.

Several existing processes have shown the potential for bilateral - if not regional - cooperation

on water. Afghanistan is not a water dependent country from abroad but currently highly

dependent on foreign aid to reach its national development goals. Since 2001, Afghanistan has

received more than $15 billion in official development assistance, not including an estimated

$50 billion in off-budget security expenditures.

Water resources development to stabilization and development in Afghanistan is

therefore immense. Because of that many donors are giving considerable attention to the

development of Afghanistan’s water sector. But starting this development will be directly

related with the hydropolitics of Afghanistan for improvement of the cooperation.

7. CONCLUSIONS

Water is more important to Afghanistan than any mineral or other natural resources.

Population growth ,urban expansion, more intensive agriculture and prospective mining

operations will all require more water that is under the effects of climate change.

A comprehensive understanding of Afghanistan’s most transboundary water resources

by its scientists, engineers, political leaders and citizenry is vital for the future of this

struggling nation. Afghanistan’s reluctance to engage in regional dialogues on water has to be

attributed, among other concerns, to the country’s limited hydro-meteorological capacity, the

lack of adequately skilled human resources (with solid knowledge of international law and the

ability to negotiate in international forums), and a knowledge gap of about thirty years of

hydrological data due to war. Therefore, they are currently away from regional cooperation

agreements on water fearing that they might lose in bilateral forums. Data acquisition and

exchange could be a first vital step for the improvement of the cooperation with riparian

states. But it seems that there is a long way for water cooperation between riparian states in

the region .Building up cooperation on the nonpolitical, technical aspects of water is the most

promising starting point for any eventual bilateral or regional framework of cooperation.

Information sharing and building technical capacities would contribute to regional trust

building and lay a foundation for regional cooperation on other policy issues as well.

There is unprecedented interest from the international community for Afghanistan’s

development, including considerable aid packages for the water sector. The international

community efforts in a regional context, rather than a merely national context would be more

important for Afghanistan’s water development.

The international community should look beyond merely national realities and

incorporate regional water strategies into political and development agendas. The country

needs for urgent investment in capacity development and data collection which an area where

the international community has much to contribute. Programs such as those provided by

USAID developing water resource administration and governance provide education and

support to those who might be able to negotiate international water agreements that will make

a difference in stabilizing the region.


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Biography

Dursun Yıldız is a hydropolitics expert and Director of the Hydropolitics Academy Association located in

Ankara-Turkey. He is a civil engineer and used to be Deputy Director at State Hydraulic Works in Turkey;

completed hydroinformatics post graduate course at the IHE in Delft, Technical training programme in USBR-

USA and a master degree in Hydropolitics at the Hacettepe University-Turkey. He has over 5 years of teaching

experiences in some Turkish Universities and now works as head of his own Hydro Energy & Strategy

consulting company located in Ankara. He has published severel inernational articles and 11 Books. He recieved

Most Succesful Reseracher Award on International Water Issues from Turkish Agricultural Association in 2008.

References

[1] S. Aslov, 2003b. IFAS 10 years (decisions and events), International Fund for Saving the

Aral Sea Executive Committee, Dushanbe.

[2] United States Senate. 2011. Avoiding water wars: Water scarcity and Central Asia's

growing importance for stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A Majority Staff Report

prepared for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate.

[3] L. Schroeder, T. Ure, “River Basin Organization and Governance in Afghanistan”. The

XVth World Water Congress of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA)

Edinburgh, Scotland, May 25-29, 2015.

[4] M. King and B. Sturtewagen 2010. “Making the Most of Afghanistan’s River Basins

Opportunities for Regional Cooperation” Report of The East West Institute New York –USA.

[5] S. Horsman 2008 “Afghanistan And Transboundary Water Management On The Amu

Darya: A Political History“, Central Asian Waters - Part 2: Research Papers. Rahaman M.M.

& Varis O. (eds.): Central Asian Waters, pp. 63-74. Water & Development Publications -

Helsinki University of Technology.

[6] J. Allouche, “The governance of Central Asian waters: National interests versus regional

cooperation” (2007), pp. 49-53.

[7] D. W Rycroft and K. Wegerich, “The three blind spots of Afghanistan: Water fow,

irrigation development and the impact of climate change” (2009) p. 3.

[8] Jon Campbell, “A dry and ravaged land: Investigating water resources in Afghanistan”

http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/dry-and-ravaged-land-investigating-water-resources-

afghanistan. January 4, 2015.

( Received 17 June 2015; accepted 03 July 2015 )

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